A payment reminder.
Look up the person, ask about the balance, branch on the answer, and text the pay link.
Platform / Marketing automation / Journeys
Blasts and cadences
Journeys and sales cadences, on one engine.
Add one contact or a whole list, and Unbound moves each person through a sequence of emails, texts, calls, tasks, and waits, checking for a reply at every step.
One engine
Blasts and cadences run on one engine, not two tools.
Journeys are built in the same designer that runs your IVR and your queue steps. A journey itself is simpler than that sounds: it's a sequence of touches sent to one person over time, nothing more.
Before
- A blast tool for the newsletter.
- A separate sequence tool for SDR outreach.
- Nobody can tell which tool a reply landed in.
- Reach numbers live in one tool, rep numbers in another.
On Unbound
- Blast: one send to a list, on the engine that also runs cadences.
- Cadence: a multi-step sequence timed to one person: email, wait, text, call, a task, then a check for a reply.
- Reply handling: hand off to a rep or keep the sequence running, set per step.
- One report: reach, funnel, and rep performance together.
Channels and handoffs
Email, text, phone, and a task a person does.
A step sends an email or a text, puts a call on a rep's list, or assigns a task such as a LinkedIn follow or like. A reply can hand the person to a rep or let the sequence keep going, your choice at that step.
Email, SMS, phone, and tasks.
Email and text send on their own, or from a rep. A call goes on the rep's list to dial. A task is manual work, such as a LinkedIn follow or like.
Reply handling per step.
Set a step to hand off on any reply, only on a reply that matches a rule, or to keep running.
A human step, not a general queue.
A human step creates a task on the rep's sales work list. It never lands in a general support queue.
One lead's week
A lead's week, one touch at a time.
A single cadence, run against one person, end to end.
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An email goes out.
The first step in the cadence sends as soon as the lead is enrolled.
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A call lands on the rep.
The step waited two days, then put a call on the rep's list. They dial and log the outcome.
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A task, done by hand.
Follow or like the lead on LinkedIn. The rep marks the task done, and the cadence continues.
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The lead replies.
The reply is checked against your rule and lands on the sales work list, with the message thread attached.
Touches land at the right time, not 3 a.m.
Journeys respect the sending schedule you set: business hours, each lead's time zone, and blackout windows you define. A step waits for the next open window instead of firing the moment it's due.
Starting a journey
Seven ways to add someone.
A journey doesn't need a special on-ramp.
- Manually
Add one person straight from their record.
- In bulk
Add a whole list at once.
- By a segment rule
A filter that enrolls people as they match it, on its own.
- From a workflow
Any workflow step can enroll a person.
- By the API
Enroll or remove someone from your own code.
- From a web form
A form submission is an entry point too.
- When they're identified
A visitor who reads your pricing twice can be two steps in before they fill a form. See Visitor Identity
Reach and rep performance
See where every lead sits, and who's working the replies.
A reach report counts who's at each step and how many converted. Rep performance shows what happens after a human step.
Funnel.
Enrolled, sent, replied, and converted, at every step.
Rep performance.
Tasks worked, time to first touch, and bookings, by rep.
Versions
Change a journey without breaking the one that's running.
Save a named version, publish it when it's ready, and read Sessions to see each run step by step.
Starting from scratch isn't required. A template library covers common sales and lifecycle cadences, so a rep or a marketer can launch one and tune it from there.
An appointment reminder.
Text the reminder before the visit. A call confirms it and books a new time if the customer asks for one.
A score follow-up.
A text goes out, an email follows, and a buyer who replies reaches a rep who can see everything that came before.
Questions
What marketers and sales teams ask about journeys.
What's the difference between a blast and a cadence?
A blast is a one-time send to a list. A cadence is a multi-step sequence timed to one person: an email, a wait, a text, a call, a task, then a check for a reply. Unbound runs both on the same engine.
What can a journey step do?
Send an email or a text, put a phone call on a rep's list, or assign a task a person does by hand, such as a LinkedIn follow or like. Waits and reply checks sit between those steps.
What happens when someone replies?
You set it per step. A reply can hand the person to a rep right away, or let the sequence keep going until a later step checks again.
Where does a rep's work land?
A human step creates a task on the rep's sales work list. It never lands in a general support queue.
Can people start a journey from a form or the API?
Yes. Add someone manually, in bulk, by a segment rule, from a workflow, through the API, or when they submit a web form.
Is Journeys a separate tool?
No. Journeys are built in the same designer that runs your IVR and your queue steps. A journey itself is simpler: a sequence of touches sent to one person over time.
Build a cadence and watch it run.
Open an account with sample data already loaded, where a cadence is already enrolling people. Change a step, save it as a version, and publish it.